Is this the future of fashion? Google teams up with Levi's on interactive fabric.← Back

About 2 Years, 8 Months, 3 Weeks, 1 Day, 21 Hours, 8 Minutes ago.

Image source - Pixabay

Could this be the future of textiles? During I/O 15 conference Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group revealed their latest project which focuses on wearable technology: Project Jacquard.

Google has designed conductive yarns which can woven into the cloth to form touch-sensitive fabrics and interactive surfaces. These miniaturised electronics incorporated within the weave will be responsive to touch gestures.
The project is a breakthrough in that the yarn has been designed to be used by industrial machines currently used across the world. The yarn looks and feels like normal yarn and can be used in textiles like any traditional yarn: it doesn’t need specialized experts for it to be put to use. It’s therefore up to the designers to use their creativity to best put this new technology to use.

Google have teamed up with a fashion label to develop the idea, by making denim brand Levi’s the first official partner for the project. Ivan Poupyrev, a Technical Product Lead at Google ATAP commented on the partnership, saying: “Levi’s is an iconic brand with deep Bay area roots — authentic and also highly innovative and fashionable. Levi’s brings to Jacquard their deep knowledge and understanding of apparel, their consumers and what they value.” This partnership will enable Google to apply this new technology to fashion. Google had already delved into the field with Google Glass, but this new project takes wearable technology onto a whole new level as it becomes more sophisticated.

The creation of this new yarn marks a new chapter for textiles, in terms of its potential to transform the function of clothing but also the everyday objects surrounding us. Still in its early days, the Jacquard Project offers endless opportunities… your next pair of Levi’s could well be high-tech, interactive jeans.